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Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) of Personality

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Synonyms

Blank slate; Empiricists; Social constructionists; SSSM

Definition

The standard social science model is the notion that the mind is a blank slate, and our social applications, morals, and practices are learned.

Standard Social Science Model of Personality

One of the most contentious arguments regarding human psychology is whether the mind is a “blank slate” or equipped with evolved domain-specific mechanisms. In the past, the notion that humans are born as blank slates dominated the social sciences, but recent shifts in cognitive research have provided us with a better understanding of how the human mind functions (Pinker 2002). As a result of these advances, the blank slate approach has largely been abandoned. The purpose of this entry is to revisit the blank slate approach by reviewing the standard social science model (SSSM) that was described by Tooby and Cosmides (1992) as well as their proposed alternative model.

Standard Social Science Model

It has sometimes been argued...

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References

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Correspondence to Jennifer Vrabel .

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Vrabel, J., Zeigler-Hill, V. (2017). Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) of Personality. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1188-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1188-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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